Notes on
the Definition of “Ethnic”
Menart, Vladimir “Notes on the Definition of
‘Ethnic’”, 2 October 1975.
by Vladimir Menart, Deputy
Chairman of the New South
Wales Ethnic Communities’
Council
October 2, 1975.
The definition of the word "Ethnic" is very
important. It affects two vital clauses of the
Constitution of the Council viz., objects and
membership clauses. In plain language, the
definition of "Ethnic" influences the purpose
and direction of the Council and determines
which and what kind of organizations can be
members.
That is not all. The importance of the definition
of the word "Ethnic" transcends the framing of
the Constitution. However humble we want to
be, the meaning of "Ethnic" as defined in our
Constitution will affect the usage of the word
even beyond the borders of this State.
For that reason, by trying to define the word,
we are accepting a responsibility which must not
be taken lightly or influenced by spurious and
myopic considerations. The definition presents a
real difficulty and requires a genuine endeavour
and an unbiased approach.
"Natio". The present meaning of the English
word "Nation" is something quite different
from the meaning the word "Natio" had for the
Romans. The English meaning of the word
"Nation" and its derivatives "Nationality" and
"Nationalize" was conditioned by the Frankish
feudal concept of sovereignty as transmitted to
the English by the Norman French conquerors.
At Common Law the word "Nation" means
people subject to the same sovereign.
The Common Law never developed an abstract
notion of a State as the Roman Law did. It is
not pure coincidence that the railways are called
"Government Railways" and not the "State
Railways" as it is the custom on the Continent
of Europe where the Roman Law was adopted
wholesale with all its notions and concepts.
Most of Continental Europe distinguishes
between "Nationality" and "Citizenship". The
European notion of "Nationality" is generally
defined as people having in common some or all
of the following traits: language, history,
territory, origin, feeling of affinity and awareness
of common destiny. It is not governed by
borders or similar considerations.
These notes are prepared in order to throw
some light on the origin of the word "Ethnic",
its historical background and its usage within
the scope and context of its legal, social and
popular connotations.
The nearest equivalent to the Common Law
notion of "Nationality" is the European term
"Citizenship". It is the "Citizenship" which
bestows the rights and duties in law. The
"Citizenship" is conferred on the individual by
the State, whilst the "Nationality" in its
European sense is a question of the personal
awareness or consciousness of the individual. A
European individual accepts the "Citizenship"
and declares his "Nationality".
The dictionaries list the adjective "Ethnic" as
derived from the Greek noun "Ethnos" meaning
"Nation". This does not help very much as it is
just another way of saying that the Greek word
"Ethnos" is equivalent to the Latin word
Some years ago the term "Citizenship" was
introduced in Australia, the idea being that one
is a British "National" and an Australian
"Citizen". This distinction has nothing to do
with the distinction between the European
Making Multicultural Australia Notes on the Definition of “Ethnic”
1
terms of "Nationality" and "Citizenship". The
Australian usage of "Citizenship" simply adopts
the Common Law notion of "Nationality" and
is limited to the rights and duties of an
Australian. We should avoid to be even more
confused by such usage.
In recent years the American usage of "Ethnic"
was adopted as an adjective describing people
and customs of non-British origin and of
activities relating to such people and customs.
In this context "Ethnic" has a connotation of
pertaining to non-British minorities.
It is a principle of Common Law not to use
legally notions or terms which cannot be exactly
defined. Since the Continental European notion
of "Nation" cannot be exactly defined the
Common Law lawyers preferred to ignore it.
Whether a "Nation" in the European sense can
be legally defined or not it is a reality and it
cannot remain ignored. The failure of the
English to cope in a civilized way with the Irish
question was due to the failure of the Common
Law to take cognisance of the ties and
allegiances based on kinship heritage and
tradition.
It is interesting to note that in this sense the
word "Ethnic" was also used by early
ecclesiastical writers when referring to nonChristian peoples forming alien enclaves in the
great cities of the ancient world such as Rome
and Constantinople. The word "Ethnic" was for
these ecclesiastical writers synonymous to
heathen, pagan and gentile.
In this context it is interesting to note that the
Spaniards who similarly to English and perhaps
alone among Continental Europeans define the
"Nation" as "People under the same
Government" (nacion = los habitantes de un
pais regido por el mismo gobierno) have
difficulty to accommodate Basques whom the
Spaniards by their definition of "Nation" take to
be Spanish while the Basques consider
themselves to be a separate entity.
Americans in addition used the name
"National" to denote something applying or
belonging to the whole of the U.S.A. as distinct
from "Local".
As Australia today the U.S.A. had for some time
to cope with settlers of non-British origin and
background. They adopted the word "Ethnics"
because the word "Nationalities" would be
misleading. Australians were at a loss what to
call non-British settlers and as a temporary
expedient adopted the expression "New
Australians" to replace at least in polite circles
the popular "Balt" and offensively vulgar
"Wog". The expression "New Australian" was
only a temporary solution as it is hard to call
someone "New Australian" and his Australian
born children "O1d Australians".
The meaning of a word depends on its usage.
The Greeks who originated the word "Ethnic"
still use it in the sense in which other
Continental Europeans use the word
"National". In this sense of the word everyone is
an "Ethnic", whether English, Welsh, ZuluKaffir or Hottentot. I believe that in this sense
"Ethnic" should be defined by us as meaning
peoples, communities and activities having a
separate and particular language culture
background.
The other school of thought could perhaps
prefer to define "Ethnic" as applying only to
minorities consistent with the American usage
of the word or as already used in this country in
the expressions of "Ethnic Communities",
"Ethnic Affairs" etc. I have reason to suspect
that the name given to our organization, namely
The Ethnic Communities Council, uses the
term "Ethnic" in the "National Minorities"
sense.
Having in mind all the pros and cons I am
inclined to think that the word "Ethnic" should
be defined in the sense nearest to the original
Greek usage of the word. If the minority aspect
is to be stressed the word "Minority" can be
added to "Ethnic". But whatever we do let us
make the definition short and to the point.
Long definitions mean more words and more
words mean more problems.
Making Multicultural Australia Notes on the Definition of “Ethnic”
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